Soviet and Russian fashion icon Slava Zaitsev dies at 85

Vyacheslav “Slava” Zaitsev, the couturier responsible for world-famous Soviet fashion, often embellished with colorful Russian folk motifs, died on Sunday at the age of 85.

Born into a working-class family in 1938, Zaitsev gained his first international recognition in 1963, when French magazine Paris Match wrote about his collection of overalls for working women, according to a story posted on his fashion house’s website.

The bright, flowery jackets and skirts in the collection were rejected by the Experimental Clothing Factory Zaitsev worked for, the RIA news agency reported. The French press dubbed him the “Red Dior” in the 1960s.

In 1965 he began working as artistic director of the All-Union Experimental House of Fashion Models in Moscow, and some of his designs, often implementing ornate traditional Russian patterns, were exhibited in the West.

In 1969, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted an exhibition of women’s dresses based on sketches by Zaitsev, among others. After the exhibition, he received offers to open shops in the West, which the Soviet authorities rejected.

In 1979, Zaitsev opened a small atelier, which in 1982 became the Slava Zaitsev Moscow Fashion House, becoming the first Soviet designer allowed to label his clothes.

Zaitsev’s Russian clients included music stars, actors, socialites and politicians.

On Monday, the Russians paid tribute to him as a “pioneer” who helped reshape the previously drab image of Soviet clothing.